1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic head for use in a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus such as a VTR.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Ferrite materials have been conventionally used as the material of magnetic head cores. In recent years, however, magnetic heads made of metallic magnetic materials having high levels of saturation magnetic flux density such as permalloy, sendust and an amorphous alloy have become popular in order to cope with the current demand for higher recording density and higher image quality. In general, a magnetic head core is composed of two separate core parts which are bonded together at gap surfaces. In order to achieve a high reliability,the bonding of the core parts is usually conducted by fusion of a glass. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a head made of a known metallic magnetic material. The head core 11, which is made of a metallic magnetic material, is clamped by a pair of substrates 12. A magnetic gap is composed of a non-magnetic material 14 and the bonding of the core parts at the gap surfaces is accomplished by fusion of bonding glass 15 which fills grooves or recesses provided along a track.
When an amorphous alloy is used as the metallic magnetic material of the magnetic head core, it is not allowed to use such a bonding glass having a high melting point as that used in conventional ferrite cores, considering the magnetic characteristics of the amorphous alloy. In general, an amorphous alloy exhibits magnetization which becomes zero at the Curie point Tc and increases again when the temperature is raised to or beyond the crystallization temperature Tx, as shown in FIG. 4. In order to obtain excellent magnetic head characteristics, it is preferred that the magnetic permeability of the magnetic head is high. In order to obtain a high magnetic permeability, it is necessary to conduct a heat treatment at a temperature which is not lower than Tc and not higher than Tx, so as to eliminate any magnetic anisotropy in the magnetic film. Heating to a temperature above Tx causes the amorphous alloy to be crystallized so that the magnetic permeability is lowered. Practically, the crystallizing temperature Tx is about 500.degree. C., while the Curie point Tc is about 450.degree. C. considering the saturation magnetic flux density. This is the reason why a bonding glass having low softening and melting temperatures has to be used as the bonding glass for bonding core half parts made of an amorphous alloy. Softening point of glass may be lowered by increasing the lead content of the glass. A large lead content, however, makes the glass unstable resulting in various shortcomings such as reduction in the mechanical strength. For these reasons, glass having low softening points of 350.degree. to 450.degree. C. is practically used as the bonding glass for magnetic cores made of amorphous alloys.
Use of bonding glass having high melting point also is inhibited when the core is made of sendust or permalloy, because heating of such metallic magnetic material causes a separation of the core from the substrate at high temperature due to difference in the thermal expansion coefficient.
Magnetic head which will be referred to as MIG heads have been known in which a metallic magnetic material is used only in the region near the magnetic gap. This type of magnetic head also requires the use of bonding glass having a low melting point because a too high bonding temperature causes a diffusion between the metallic magnetic material and the ferrite to form a reaction layer which provides an effect resembling that of the gap.
Thus, the production of magnetic head cores from metallic magnetic materials cannot employ high bonding temperature due to restrictive conditions such as the crystallization temperature in case of an amorphous alloy, difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between the substrate and the core made of sendust or permalloy,and diffusion between the metallic magnetic material and ferrite in case of a MIG head. This essentially requires that bonding glasses having low melting points are used. Glasses having low melting points generally exhibit comparatively low levels of mechanical strength, tending to cause cracking at the gap region of the core during mechanical processing which is executed after the bonding, with the result that the yield of the magnetic head is reduced undesirably. In addition, glass having low melting points provides only low levels of bonding strength with the result that the gap size cannot be precisely controlled. These problems undesirably impair the reliability of the magnetic head cores of the type described.